Monday, December 3, 2012

Conservative on Target! 12/3/12

Mitch Daniels on the duty of freedom's friends: ... failures, abetted by the natural tendency of Americans to swing the
pendulum every so often, set the stage for a powerful restoration of an
architecture of liberty. Freedom's friends must be ready, not just with cerebral
prescriptions for better policy, but with a moral argument that affirms the
God-given dignity of each of us, that says "Yes, you can" to everyone. . . . In 1980, a Wyoming single mother mystified a New York Times reporter by
stating that yes, absolutely she supported candidate Reagan's proposed income
tax cuts. "But, why?" the reporter spluttered. "You don't make enough money to
pay income taxes!" The woman's reply was "One day I will." Freedom's friends
must shape their words and actions, when the opportunity for action arrives, in
ways that say emphatically "Yes, you can" and "One day you will."

Rebut Clueles Bob Costa's Anti-Gun Comments The mountain of evidence to contradict his anti-gun assertions looms large
and would have been easy to find. Take just two points which belie the charge
that the gun drives suicides and murders. First, there is the comparison with Japan. That island-nation prohibits most
citizens from owning guns. It would be the perfect Petri dish for showing how
suicides can be prevented by banning guns. The reality turns that on its head,
since the suicide
rate in Japan approaches (sometimes exceeds) twice that of the U.S. No guns
in Japan, but twice the rate of suicides of the U.S., which has perhaps 300
million guns. Second, there is the example in the U.S. of the effect (or lack of effect) on
murder rates when people carry loaded guns. Twenty years ago few states had
laws permitting citizens to carry loaded firearms for their protection. After
Florida passed what is known as "shall-issue" concealed carry (requiring the
state to issue a permit to any qualified applicant), almost all states followed.
In that 20-year period the number of people with carry permits has grown beyond
six million, plus several states which require no permit at all for a person to
carry a gun for protection. Over a nearly identical time span, the murder rate in the United States has
fallen dramatically. There are millions more guns, millions more gun owners, and
millions more people carrying guns for protection, but the murder rate has
fallen by nearly half. Even if one doesn't believe that the concealed carry
movement actually caused this drop, it would be difficult for anyone to ignore
that -- at a minimum -- adding millions of guns, gun owners, and concealed carry
participants did not increase the murder rate, which is what Clueless Costas
would have you believe.The Boehner Fiscal Offer Here are two things to keep in mind with regards to Boehner’s budget offer. First, when you begin negotiations agreeing to 60% of the demands of the other side and fail to offer a bold contrast on the other 40%, you are headed for an outcome that is 80-90% favorable to your opponent. Second, when you need to outsource your budget plan and entire view of government to Democrat Erskine Bowles, you are relegating yourself and your party to irrelevancy.POPULAR TWEETS